{"nrhp_refnum":"83001738","name":"Park East Synagogue, Congregation Zichron Ephraim","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"163 E. 67th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.767036147000056,"lon":-73.96344566099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-08-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A synagogue building at 163 East 67th Street in Manhattan, New York City, built in 1889-90 for Congregation Zichron Ephraim and designed by the firm Schneider and Herter.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a distinctive example of late nineteenth century synagogue architecture in New York City, designed in a Romanesque Revival form with Moorish and Byzantine embellishments. It is also historically associated with Rabbi Bernard Drachman and Jonas Weil, who worked to adapt Orthodox practice to American life.","narrative":"Park East Synagogue is a house of worship on East 67th Street in Manhattan, built in 1889-90 for Congregation Zichron Ephraim. Its orange brick and terra-cotta facade rises above a gray granite base and is organized around twin asymmetrical towers, a central gable with a rose window, and a porch screened by horseshoe arches. Balusters appear in place of columns in several arcades, giving the front a lively, ornamental character. The architects, Schneider and Herter, mainly designed tenements, and this was one of their early commissions. They drew on the Moorish-Byzantine vocabulary used by earlier Reform synagogues while giving it an individual treatment. The congregation was founded by Rabbi Bernard Drachman and his father-in-law Jonas Weil, who sought an American Orthodoxy that used English in services and stressed religious instruction for children. The building is valued both as an inventive example of nineteenth-century synagogue design and as a landmark of that effort.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Schneider and Herter","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival with Moorish and Byzantine embellishments","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in religious use; condition rated excellent, with some alterations, including removal of the original tower domes and a ciborium. A recent addition at the rear is not part of the nomination.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:42.621958-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/83001738.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001738/1640d672e6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001738/1640d672e6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"ajay_suresh","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Park_East_Synagogue_(51659535757).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">ajay_suresh</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Park_East_Synagogue_(51659535757).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319819","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_East_Synagogue","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3916647"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/park-east-synagogue-congregation-zichron-ephraim-83001738/"}